1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for efficiently scheduling pay telephone and coin collections for coin operated devices and, more particularly, to a method for scheduling coin collections which considers past collection history, weather effects, and seasonal cycles to determine efficient collection dates for coin operated devices such as pay telephones and vending machines.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Coin operated devices, such as pay telephones and vending machines, provide a great convenience to the public. They also provide revenue for the service provider operating the device. For telephone service providers, for example, to continue providing public pay telephones (or to add more public pay phones), these phones should be profitable.
Accurate collection schedules for collecting coins from pay telephones increases the profitability of pay telephones. For example, collecting coins infrequently reduces the potential revenue for the phone. This is because once a pay telephone's coin box is full, the telephone automatically goes out of service. This "down time" stops the potential revenue stream for that phone until the coins are collected. Collecting the coins too frequently increases the maintenance overhead for the telephone because of the increased labor and service costs needed to collect the coins. If coins are collected too frequently, the telephones become expensive and less profitable to operate. Similar considerations exist for vending machines and other coin operated devices. Therefore, it is advantageous to maximize the profitability of coin operated devices by scheduling coin collections in a manner which maximizes the profitability of the device.
How often a pay telephone or vending machine is used may vary according to the time of year and the weather. For example, a telephone near a public school may be used more frequently during the school year than during the summer. A telephone near a beach may be used more frequently in the summer. Outdoor phones may be used less frequently in cold, rainy, or snowy weather.
Known collection schedule methods do not automatically consider seasonal patterns or weather effects on a telephone's revenue stream when determining an optimally efficient collection schedule.